


Reciprocating love

by armethaumaturgy



Series: The effects of absence [6]
Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, M/M, Multiple times, Violence, by tearing out his throat, esper shows lusa just how much he loves him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 06:17:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9110248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armethaumaturgy/pseuds/armethaumaturgy
Summary: It’s rare for him to have a moment of calmness between the other two’s constant requests. Even though he had hated being alone in the house before — back when he and Arc and Psych lived together — now he loves it, revels in the silence and the way he can easily hear the shuffling of his slippers as he walks through the hallways.Wait.Those are not his footsteps, he’s still standing by the counter, leaned against the wood comfortably.He had jinxed it. Damn, and he didn’t even get to finish his cocoa yet.cowritten byDez





	

There’s nothing better than a bit of peace and quiet, Esper concludes.

A small sip of his hot cocoa traveling down his esophagus warms him, a porcelain mug with a painted picture of a cat on it grasped in his ungloved hands. The kitchen is wrapped in soft light of the setting sun, accenting his pale skin with splotches of pink and orange.

It’s rare for him to have a moment of calmness between the other two’s constant requests. Even though he had hated being alone in the house before — back when he and Arc and Psych lived together — now he loves it, revels in the silence and the way he can easily hear the shuffling of his slippers as he walks through the hallways.

Wait.

Those are not his footsteps, he’s still standing by the counter, leaned against the wood comfortably.

He had jinxed it. Damn, and he didn’t even get to finish his cocoa yet.

He groans quietly when the loud footsteps stop at the kitchen’s doorway, Lusa’s boisterous voice calling out with an, “Esper!”

He looks at the brawler; hair slicked back with sweat, chest heaving softly. Absently, he wonders what the other had been doing. Though he wonders more what the other _wants to do._

“Come and train with me for a bit!”

His eyes narrow over the edge of the mug and he slurps the flavored milk a little too loudly. He didn’t even have to guess.

“Sorry, I’m too tired. We trained all morning, remember?” he deadpans, still feeling the tiredness weighting at his limbs.

The energetic smile doesn’t leave Lusa’s lips. He pleads, “Awww, c’mon! Just a little more?”

“No.” Esper’s eyes narrow further and he turns his back to the brawler.

It’s silent for a moment before Lusa’s voice resounds once more, this time more soft. “What, you don’t love me anymore?” There’s a dark grin on his face, him fully aware the words rile up his “sparring partner.”

Esper hisses at the prickly words. Usually the question and Lusa’s begging eyes would be enough to turn his answer around, but today he’s had it. Lusa’s put him through enough shit for one day and he spins out of his seat, one hand outstretched and eyes crackling with unnatural magenta energy.

In an instant, a gravity field forms between them and Lusa is violently thrown to the other side of the room, crashing into and fracturing the empty kitchen wall. His body is pinned against the wall by the shift in gravity, densified force many times normal and almost strong enough to crush his insides. The brawler wheezes for breath. Plasma crackles angrily around Lusa’s open palms, but without the ability to move they are useless.

Esper’s blackened eyes follow Lusa like a predator watching its prey, pupils dilated into feral slits. He stalks closer to the restrained brawler, movements elegant and fluid, growling aggressively. “You seem to be forgetting, my _dear_ Lusa. The only reason I still stand this _**is**_ because I love you.”

The taps of his feet stop just centimeters from where Lusa is pressed against the wall. With one hand gently cupping Lusa’s face, he breathes out, “Maybe I should show you some of the love you show me— that’d only be fair then. It’ll reassure you, right?” His words and movements are soft and laced with sweet honey, but his expression is everything but. With eyes like the abyss and an expression of nothing, something is off.

Lusa tries — tries — fighting the force, but in the end, it’s useless, he’s stuck in the dented wall, at the mercy of the time traveler. He arches his neck as far from Esper as he can, lips curling up in an unsure mixture of disgust and…

It isn’t fear. It isn’t.

“What do you think— you’re doing?” he hisses through his ground teeth.

A velvety chuckle leaves Esper’s lips, though his eyes don’t shift at all, staring Lusa down like he’s nothing more than a bug. “I just told you, I’ll show you all the love you show me all the time,” he drawls, leaning forward and pressing his lips to Lusa’s cheek, taking great pleasure in the shudder passing through the brawler.

Languidly, he slides down, tongue leaving behind a faint trail of gray saliva on Lusa’s skin. He stops on Lusa’s neck, one hand moving the purple collar out of the way and the other placed over Lusa’s chest, pressing into the flesh with enough strength to force the air out of Lusa’s lungs. Even the barest of touches feel multiplied hundredfold, with the gravity shifted so much.

Esper takes a moment to run his tongue along the vein protruding from Lusa’s neck at the angle his head is twisted, shark-like teeth just barely ghosting over it before he pulls away.

“Well then,” he says, grasping Lusa’s chin and turning his head so he looks directly at the time traveler. “Let’s start properly, shall we?”

Pale blue light engulfs the room for a split second, and before Lusa can even register the brightness being gone, sharp pain blooms in his neck. A scream tears its way out of his throat, back arching uselessly as he feels Esper’s teeth sinking into his flesh further, long, flexible tongue worming its way into the wound and lapping at the flowing crimson rivulets.

Lusa struggles against the ungodly force holding him to the wall with renewed desperation. His muscles strain under his efforts without achieving anything. While he may be strong, there are still physical limits even he cannot break. He wants to kick, but can’t. He wants to throw the scrawny time traveler off of him, but can’t. Lusa finds himself unable to do a thing as the unnaturally sharp teeth cut into his throat, eliciting a dying screech from him as Esper rips into his vocal chords.

There’s a burning pain in the brawler’s throat and a disgustingly warm, wet sensation crawling down his chest, probably blood. Along with loud wet slurps, he hears a grotesque tearing sound as another intense burst of pain blooms in his neck. There’s a cold wind on the back of his esophagus he’d never thought he’d ever have to experience. The tearing noises only get louder in his ears. He finds himself unable to vocalize. It’s a living nightmare.

Esper tears Lusa’s throat out in a moment of gorey fury, head jerking back at the sudden loss of tension, droplets of blood flying through the air to splatter over Esper’s top and speckle the kitchen tile. Through hazy eyes the brawler watches Esper chew, grit his teeth, and spit out the mound of flesh. The blood splattered face blacks out from his vision until everything around them is coated in a cold blue light.

The pain is gone. He is intact, save for his bloodied clothes.

Lusa hopes for Esper to release him, eyeing the time traveler carefully, but Esper’s expression is unreadable, staring blankly at him with unblinking eyes. When Esper leans in again to nuzzle his throat, Lusa recoils. The still warm blood on the time traveler’s face smears onto his neck and he feels a warm tongue tauntingly lick the spot where there once was a gaping hole. The brawler shudders at the memory of it. He tries to vocalize, but a familiar blue light surrounds them and Esper clamps down on his throat with those blade-like teeth, cutting into his tender flesh with ease. His tentative words morphs into a howling screech and the time traveler shreds him once more without hesitation.

In fact, it looks like the only time Esper does hesitate at all is when he starts having problems breathing again, his scream fading into a pained gurgle. The time traveler’s eyes glance up at him, still as cold and empty. Even the sight alone makes Lusa’s insides churn.

And then, as if to make up for it, Esper digs into him more, teeth making fresh indents and ripping through the flesh all anew. Another scream tears from him, blood bubbling up into his mouth halfway through it. He chokes on its volume, coughing violently. The fluid drips from his parted lips, down his cheek and then falls onto Esper’s hair, seeping into it and turning patches a dark red.

It all blurs before Lusa’s teary eyes. His whole body convulses unconsciously under Esper.

“St—” he tries begging, the pain and humiliation making him forget his prideful nature momentarily. He doesn’t get even a word in, however.

Esper’s bloodied mouth stretches wide, head tilted to the side. He breathes once, twice against the trembling neck before he clamps down, teeth shredding through tissue and sinking straight into Lusa’s trachea, crushing a part of it instantly. Whatever pained yell that Lusa wanted to make is lost, he can only gag on more blood that rushes out of him.

Esper’s teeth stay clamped on his throat even as he pulls his head away, tearing the entirety of Lusa’s windpipe out with the single movement. It’s accompanied by sickening tearing sounds, patches of meat and tissue hanging from Esper’s mouth as he spits out the tube onto the ground.

Lusa fights for breath as his vision fades, but without the windpipe, he can’t get any no matter how hard he tries. Everything fades, only to once again be engulfed by the seal’s merciless light.

He’s all right again, though the bits of flesh still hang from Esper’s lips. The time traveler spits them out like they’re nothing more than trash, licking his lips as he looks up at Lusa. Esper looks like he can see right through him, and honestly, Lusa wouldn’t be too surprised about that right about now.

He shivers unconsciously, feeling fear bubble in his chest as he thinks what else Esper might want to do to him.

Again, Seal of Time casts around them and Esper runs his tongue over unbroken skin. The phantom pain haunts him, a lingering feeling of pain and the nothingness of having a chunk ripped out of you, but at the same normal sensation as it should be. It’s maddening and Lusa can’t help but yelp even though nothing’s happened yet.

Prying fingers crawl up his chest and the brawler feels his bloodied shirt torn open, exposing more of his shoulders to open air. More prickling pain follows as Esper mauls his skin. The time traveler drags long scratches over Lusa’s shoulders and neck with his teeth, deep enough to paint his chest red, but not enough to activate Seal of Time’s healing.

Lusa stares down at the ugly red marks, just barely restraining a pitiful whine. Such weak sounds were beneath someone like him, even if he’s in such pain. Esper pauses to stare up at him with those empty black eyes, nothing moving except for the ragged rise of Lusa’s chest and the soft patter of blood dripping into the growing puddle of red at their feet. The time traveler stills there unexpectedly and waits, letting him slowly and painfully bleed out through the shallow but numerous gashes.

When Lusa wakes again, he’s lost track of the number of times Esper’s mutilated him, different ways every time. His mind is a blur from the blood loss, pain, distress, but most importantly— fear. For the second time in his life, he felt nightmarish, stomach-churning _fear_.

All fight drains from him and he passes out. Lusa’s head drops like a rock. Esper takes it as a mark of defeat and steps away. The gravity field disperses and drops the brawler’s limp body, letting it crumple into a useless heap on the blood-soaked floor.

It takes a while for the brawler to awaken. When he does, he’s wracked by stinging pain all over his upper body, a pitiful whine leaving his dry lips. Strong metallic scent invades his nose when he takes each breath. His hands twitch where they lay next to his head.

He doesn’t have the energy to even move.

Lusa’s eyes flutter open with difficulty, blinking a few times to disperse the blurriness. He’s greeted by a pool of crimson, his face resting in a shallow, half-dried puddle of the liquid. But looking past it, he can see Esper, his face set into a wide grin.

His teeth glint with stray blood and bits of flesh stuck between them, Lusa shivering at the mere sight of their sharpness. The blood covers almost half of Esper’s face, stuck to his pale flesh and standing out. Everything about this sight is _wrong_.

At least Esper’s eyes are no longer empty, though Lusa can’t say he’s too glad for the change. Amusement and self-satisfaction pool in Esper’s dark eyes, turning his grin grim.

Lusa flinches sharply when Esper moves closer, expecting more pain, bracing for move pain, but Esper just presses a kiss to his cheek, breathing hotly against his skin before pulling away.

“Now you believe me, right?” Esper drawls, licking his lips at the sight of the bloody kiss mark he’d left on the brawler’s face. His eyes darken dangerously, voice dropping low. “Now you believe I love you just like you love me, right?”


End file.
